Title:
Anxiety Treatment - The Natural Remedy for Anxiety Relief
Word Count:
726
Summary:
L-theanine, naturally occuring in green tea, proves effective in dealing
with anxiety sypmtoms and providing anxiety relief.
Keywords:
anxiety, natural anxiety treatment, anxiety attack, anxiety cure, anti-
anxiety, overcoming anxiety
Article Body:
L-Theanine, naturally occurring in green tea, proves effective in dealing
with anxiety symptoms and providing anxiety relief
Anxiety is a state of intense fear, uncertainty, uneasiness, or
apprehension due to anticipation of an imagined or real threatening
future event. Anxiety can be both physically and psychologically
devastating to the Anxiety sufferer's life. Anxiety is often sub-
categorized according to the focus of the perceived threat. There is
social anxiety, separation anxiety, dating anxiety, performance anxiety,
math anxiety, etc. Stress and anxiety often go hand in hand and can
result in anxiety depression as the individual feels powerless to receive
any anxiety help.
There are a variety of anti-anxiety treatments to consider in overcoming
anxiety. For some, anxiety medications prove to be a source of anxiety
relief. Other's prefer not to use any of the anti-anxiety drugs and opt
for more natural cures for anxiety management. These may include herbs
for anxiety, acupuncture anxiety treatments, anxiety vitamins,
aromatherapy for anxiety relief, even hypnosis has has proved beneficial
overcoming anxiety.
This article discusses the perhaps little known amino acid L-Theanine as
a natural remedy for anxiety relief.
L-Theanine is a unique free form amino acid found only in the tea plant
and in the mushrooms Xerocomus badius and certain species of genus
Camellia, C. japonica and C. sasanqua. Often drinkers of green tea report
a feeling of calmness they feel after ingesting a cup or two even though
green tea has roughly half the caffeine of coffee. This is due to the
high L-Theanine content.
In addition to reducing anxiety symptoms, studies have shown L-Theanine
may be effective in promoting concentration, supporting the immune
system, improving learning performance, lowering blood pressure,
increasing formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, and
increasing brain dopamine levels among other positive benefits with no
known downside.
Studies in cooperation with Taiyo Kagaku Co., The University of Shizuoka,
and The Family Planning Institute of Japan have shown that women taking
200 mg L-Theanine daily have lower incidence of PMS symptoms. These
symptoms include physical, mental, and social symptoms. Overall, a
significant alleviation of PMS symptoms by L-Theanine was observed.
While still under investigation, L-Theanine appears to have a role in the
formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter Gamma Amino Butyric Acid
(GABA). GABA blocks release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and
serotonin, playing a key role in the relaxation effect.
Everyone knows the effects stress and anxiety can have on an individual's
physical state of well-being. Fascinating neurochemistry research has
revealed that given a shot of GABA essentially turned back the clocks in
the brains of older monkeys, whose brain function briefly operated at
levels normally seen in monkeys less than half their age.
GABA, or gamma-amino butyric acid, is a neurotransmitter chemical that is
essential for optimizing how brain cells transmit messages to each other
and acts to put a damper on unwanted brain signaling activity. Although
GABA's age-related decline has not been documented in humans, a host of
studies in mammals, including other primates, suggests that a similar
process is at work in people.
Monkeys ages 26 and 32 -- considered old age for monkeys -- that got GABA
directly delivered to their neurons responded to visual patterns, such as
flashing vertical and horizontal lines, in much the same way as monkeys
aged 7 to 9 years old did.
Without GABA delivery, the monkeys' aged brains had more difficulty
firing neurons that specifically gauge various aspects of depth
perception, motion and color. Instead, older monkeys have more random
firings that make it difficult to observe visual nuances. In younger
monkeys, GABA had no effect since their brains already had optimal GABA
functioning.
L-Theanine is considered to be safe based on its historical use as a
component of tea and on favorable toxicology studies. Tea is the most
consumed beverage worldwide after water, and has been consumed for
thousands of years by billions of people. It is estimated that a heavy
tea drinker (6-8 cups daily) will consume between 200 to 400 mg of L-
Theanine daily.
While dosage for depression and anxiety disorder remain individual, it is
recommended to take 100 to 200 mg 1 to 3 times daily for anxiety relief.
Based on the results of clinical studies, it has been established that L-
Theanine is effective in single dosages in the range of 50-200 mg. It is
suggested that subjects with higher levels of anxiety take a dose at the
higher end of the effective range (100 - 200 mg) for overcoming anxiety.